Music on the Hill Guest Artist Series Begins Sept. 19

The Fairmont State University Department of Music kicks off its new Music on the Hill Guest Artist Series with a performance this week.

Dr. Janice Haworth will present the first concert of the series at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, in Wallman Hall Theatre. Her presentation will include photos and videos of life and music in Guinea, where she spent two years, as well as performances by FSU’s Percussion and World Percussion ensembles.

The entire series consists of four concerts. Joseph V. Williams will present original compositions for the guitar on Sept. 26; Kari Johnson will present new music for the piano on Feb. 13, 2015; and Dieter Hennings will present period sensitive interpretations of music for the lute on April 16, 2015. Tickets for individual events are $10; subscription to the entire series is $30. Tickets can be purchased through the Box Office by calling (304) 367-4240. For more information about the concert series, call (304) 367-4219 or e-mail jjoyce@fairmontstate.edu.

During her week-long residency on campus, Haworth will present on the culture of Guinea and will introduce the djembe, a West African drum, to students in music and French classes.

Haworth is an Associate Professor of Music Education at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minn., where she has been teaching music education, music theory and world music since 2000. In 2010 she received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach at the Institut Superieur des Arts de Guinée in Dubréka, Guinea, West Africa, for two years. While she was there, she developed a circular notation system that could be used to musically notate the traditional rhythms of Guinea. The highlight of her time in Africa was learning to play the traditional djembes and other drums of the culture. With her Guinean friends, Moussa, Aguibou and Abou, she had daily drum lessons and then had the opportunity to travel around the country playing the Guinean traditional music.

Prior to Bemidj, Haworth taught at the University of Central Arkansas and Georgia State University; she taught public school music in Virginia and in Florida. She is a graduate of Carson-Newman College, the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida.

School of Fine ArtsMusic on the Hill Guest Artist SeriesMusicJanice HaworthJoseph V. WilliamsKari JohnsonDieter Hennings